A good, dark crime novel for the winter: “Murder by the Circle” by Dan Turèll

This month’s book review presents a gloomy Danish murder story written in 1983 by poet Dan Turèll. This is a crime novel I truly enjoyed. It was fast to read – mostly because I couldn’t put it down – and quite thrilling: the perfect book to accompany your nights in the deep of winter. I must confess I’m not a great fan of contemporary crime novels, and I’ve tried to read Stieg Larsson’s books but gave up after 10 minutes – the writing was not that good, and I didn’t find it compelling. Dan Turèll is a complete different story. He was an experimental Danish poet, who is sorely missed after his premature death in 1993. The city of Copenhagen, where I live, has even named a square in his honor: Onkel Danny Plads (“Uncle Danny’s” square). So, if I was to read a Scandinavian crime novel, it had to by by Uncle Danny, the excentric, humorous poet whose style – as Wikipedia puts it, is “delightfully difficult to fit in a box”. Plus, this book is set in Nørrebro, my neighborhood, during a gloomy and cold month of January…and the murders in the book take place about ten minutes away from where I live. That alone made the book extra creepy.

“Murder by the Circle” is a beautifully written novel inspired by American pulp novels. As a poet, Dan Turèll is a keen observer of human nature. He gives us a dark-humored, anthropological account of Copenhagen at the beginning of the 80s, with its squatters and biker-gangs, immigrants and barflies. And lots of dry, Danish sarcasm. At the same time, though, the book is deeply human, which makes it even more compelling. The narrator is a nameless reporter working for a fictional Danish tabloid, who is unfortunate enough to keep stumbling in the victims of a mysterious serial killer….I can’t tell you more. But one thing I really like is the deeper meaning of the book, a sort of reflection on what “home” and family means in Denmark. It’s highly recommended!

And this is a photo of Uncle Danny (via lionblog2544.blogspot.com). A detail you cannot see is his signature dark nail polisher manicure.

Thanks to Italian publisher Iperborea for selecting me as part of their blogger contest: I won an ebook of my choice from their crime novel selection to review – and I was so pleasantly surprised to find this novel by Turèll! The title of this book in Italian is Assassinio di Lunedi, from the Collana Ombre by Iperborea. You can find it here. I really hope they are going to translate more of Turell’s work – pleas do!! In the meantime I may just try in Danish. No English translations of Turell’s work are available yet, as far as I know, that’s just not right!

Needlework Book Covers

Book publisher Penguin is launching a series called “Penguin Threads”. Penguin hired artist Jilian Tamaki, who first sketched and then hand-sewed the art on the cover of  three classic novels: Emma, Black Beauty and The Secret Garden. The final covers are sculpt-embossed in order to reproduce the tactile feeling of the original needlework. Above, the beautiful cover for The Secret Garden. Below you can see the covers of the other two novels:

I personally really love needlework, especially free embroidery. I find it relaxing. If only it wasn’t so expensive to buy supplies (i.e. floss)…

almost ready

card: StudioTipi on etsy

We are almost ready to leave for Italy, and we are hoping is not going to snow too much tomorrow…

It has been an intense period, both with Andreas’ work and my project, so we’re happy the holidays are about to start. I had to submit my thesis outline, and it took a while for me to redefine my focus. I’m very excited with what I came up with, and my supervisor has been really helpful and encouraging.

I do need more historical background besides all the anthropological stuff, and I just ordered this book about how San Francisco ‘became American’. It explains how San Francisco was born as a multicultural boomtown and it was then carefully ‘reordered’ in a racially and socially stratified metropolis (the book covers the period between 1846-1906). The book seems very pleasant to read and full of interesting stories, so if you like history you may want to check it out too.

But I will definitely spend most time in Italy just relaxing and enjoying the company of family and friends. It’s Andreas’ first Christmas in Italy, exciting! And my mom got a new dog, just the other day. His name is Gastone, he is 5-year-old and comes from a pound in Naples, where he had a rough life. This is the photo my mom has sent me:

He looks like he’s half dalmatian.

Now it’s time to wrap the last presents…Happy Holidays!

book reviews: Safran Foer & 1001 Books

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by J. Safran Foer. I bought this book at the Stockholm airport in October, when I had to wait a long time before my flight. From the first page I absolutely loved this novel. It reminds me of a mix of Paul Auster, Salinger, and a little bit of K.Vonnegut. The main character is a child, Oskar, who lost his father during 9/11. The author plays with typesets, inserts images that become part of the narration, and builds up a story that is at times incredibly funny and other times deeply sad.

Some sections, like some of the grandfather narrative parts, are not as good as the rest of the book. Oskar’s narration is definitely the best part of it, together with the plot. I had to read it in English, because the way Safran Foer plays with the language is just brilliant.  I would definitely recommend this novel, perhaps you can just try to read the first page next time you’re in a bookstore, and see if you are hooked, too.

1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, ed. by Peter Boxall and written by Over One Hundred International Critics. So many Capital Letters in This Title and in the List of Authors! That wasn’t a good sign to start with. I got this one at the library, in English (thanks Bibliotek.dk!). It’s basically a selection of…well, the title is pretty self-explanatory. It’s not a BAD book, but I expected something more…This guide reviews books from the “pre-1700″ until today. Mostly, but not all of them, are from Great Britain and America. There is a lot of Beckett, which is nice (although, do we need to put 10 of his books in the list?). There are also a lot of quite banal novels (especially in the contemporary section) who I wish I didn’t waste my time reading, honestly. One of them is Seta (Silk) by Italian writer Baricco. Don’t need to read that before you die! I’m currently reading Jay-Z Decoded (not on the 1001 list), and so far is much better than Silk. But if you like to read, just get it at the library and you’ll find some nice suggestions in here.

minimal book reviews/Japan wrap-up!

I have been reading a lot of really good books lately, and I haven’t updated the book review series in a while, so here we are. And I even have a theme for these 3 books: Japan!

Hitching Rides with Buddha by Will Ferguson.

Canadian travel writer Will Ferguson hitchiked from the South to the North of Japan, following the blooming sakura. His account of this trip on the road is thoroughly enjoyable. This book is poetic, funny, often hilarious and a very relaxing read. I loved it! You’ll learn a lot about Japan: nature, samurai, zen, love-hotels, drinking culture… But mostly you’re going to meet many great characters along the road.

This is a book about getting to know people. What does it really mean?

(The Italian title of the book is Autostop con Buddha)

What I talk about when I talk about running, by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. Murakami is one of my favourite writers, and I truly enjoyed this non-fiction little volume. The book is a mix of memoirs and personal thoughts about running, writing and self-discipline.

You don’t need to be into running marathons to appreciate this book (I am an example of that), but chances are you will give running a try after reading it! In the second chapter, ‘Tips on becoming a running novelist’, Murakami writes about how he started writing while he was still running a jazz club. I think it’s kind of impossible to not like this book….

Andreas just said “that is slightly biased”

(In Italian the book is called L’arte di correre.)

Il coperchio del mare, by Banana Yoshimoto (original title: 海のふた /Umi no futa). This book is not translated into English. Banana is very  popular in Italy, where there are translations of all her books. Some are really good (like Kitchen, for example, that you can find in English), some are not so great. This one came out in 2004, and it’s a good one. It’s the story of a girl, Mari, that after her graduation moves back to her home village and opens a little kiosk selling granite (a type of ice dessert).

She becomes friend with a girl, Hajime, who’s covered in scars and is deeply depressed. Banana has a special talent for weaving themes like death, love, sorrow and madness into poetic little stories, like this one.

The book is not very long, and it is a pleasure to read. It is a very feminine book, in a way.

minimal book review/My Life

My Life by Isadora Duncan. I read this book on the 6 and 1/2 hours  train ride to (and the back from) Frederikshavn. I traveled first class thanks to a special offer by the Danish railways: while pouring myself fancy Russian teas and eating a ton of chocolate marzipan offered by the train stewards I immersed myself into the somehow epic memoir of Isadora Duncan. Duncan, a pioneer of modern dance, left her native San Francisco in search for much deserved glory and for the adequate recognition of her art. Her life was extremely adventurous but also tragic (her 2 children drowned in an accident, and her third child died few hours after being born). Duncan had a passionate love for Ancient Greece and thought ballet and pantomime were grotesque.  She learned how to dance by herself, at a very young age, and since then developed her personal style despite the constant debts and the initial lack of recognition.

From the book: “When I was about six years old, my mother came home one day and found that I had collected half a dozen babies of the neighbourhood – all of them too young to walk – and had them sitting before me on the floor while I was teaching them to wave their arms. When she asked the explanation of this, I informed her that it was my school of the dance. She was amused, and, placing herself at the piano, she began to play for me. This school continued and became very popular.”

minimal book review/This Cold Heaven

I just finished This Cold Heaven: Seven Seasons in Greenland by Gretel Ehrlich. The author started her love affair with Greenland after being struck by lightning in 1991, while walking on her Wyoming ranch. It’s quite impossible to finish this book without dreaming of spending some time dog-sledging in the deep of winter, eating raw seal liver. The book is a mix of ethnographic writing, biography and a recount of Knud Rasmussen’s and Rockwell’s experience in Greenland. A great way to learn about Inuit legends and traditions, and the relationship to Denmark/Danish culture. Greenland is perhaps a bit too romanticized here, but Erhlich also describes some of the nation’s main current plagues: alcoholism, child abuse and incest. A great book for who likes travel writing, legends and history. And a great read in the summer heat!

I read it in  Italian. Published by Guanda, with the title Un freddo paradiso.

Multitasking

photo: snikelarten

Andreas just sent me the link to a very good piece on multitasking, an edited extract from My Experimental Life, by AJ Jacobs. The author started a tough experiment:  living without multitasking…

“Our hopscotching brains make us more depressed (it’s harder to focus on the positive), less able to connect with people and form a conscience. And it’s an insane delusion. Multitasking makes us feel efficient, but it actually slows down our thinking. Our brains can’t handle more than one higher cognitive function at a time. We may think we’re multitasking, but in fact we’re switchtasking, toggling between one task and another. The phone, the email, the phone, back to the email.” (AJ Jacobs)

read the article here

minimal book review/4

Notre Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo was not what I first expected, and by this I mean it was much better. I just felt like reading something ultra classic, and good for the wintertime – partly inspired by our trip to Paris! The story is absolutely not what Disney pictured, as it rotates around sexual desire and extreme passion. Each chapter is a delight. I love the way history, fantastic stories, monsters, architecture and humor are mixed together. Somehow in English the book is called The Hunchback of Notredame.

recycled paper crafts

photo: design*sponge

Here, on the great blog Design*Sponge, a couple of ideas for reusing paper scraps. I decided that my collection of paper should grow even more…Besides paper clippings I also collect art postcards I find around, in galleries or in bars. Design*Sponge DIY section has another super easy project to make postcard notebooks.

photo: design*sponge